Haha, this is the same exact thought when I was introduced to Facebook in 2007. "Okay so...I can uhm..look at pictures of my friends and write messages to them through tiny boxes? Okay, why would I not just use Email?" I was sure the website would be a failure. They even required you to register before showing you any content! How could that ever work? Actually I still have no idea on that one.

What's the point of producing (checking in)? I'm not sure. Good karma for the benefits of consuming?

But consuming, yes there is a gain. You can use the "explore" feature to see what's a good place for [X] in your radius.

Doesn't just limit to your neighborhood though. I used it when traveling in Bangkok to verify local suggestions to which bars/clubs are good. Or when you're in Vegas, you can see which hotel's club is going off. If a place has 4 check-ins vs 5 vs 12 vs 20, then you can extrapolate that the "20" place is poppin'.